Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR (AJK), (Parliament Times) : Britain-based Kashmiris illustrious rights defender outfit Global Pakistan Kashmir Supreme Council (GPKSC) here on Friday categorically refuted the impression by certain quarters apprehending the visiting UK-based Pakistani and Kashmiri Diaspora community as one of the potential carriers of the novel corona virus in the country besides Azad Jammu Kashmir.
Talking to journalists here on Friday, the GPKSC Chairman Raja Sikander Khan, currently on visit to Pakistan and AJK, expressed grave concern by categorically denying a media report, carried by a section of the press, attributed to the Provincial Health Minister of Punjab Dr Yasmin Rashid as allegedly that due to the influx of the Britain-based overseas Pakistanis were spreading the COVID-19 virus.
“Labeling the visiting British Pakistanis and Kashmiris as the potential carrier of the pandemic is totally and nonsense and malicious propaganda against the British Pakistani and Kashmiri Diaspora community visiting their ancestral abodes in their motherland – Pakistan and Azad Jammu from the United Kingdom ever since the pandemic gripped various parts of the world including UK, Pakistan and AJK”, Raja Sikander said.
Raja Sikander Khan continued as saying “how dared the Punjab Health Minister bluntly branded and blamed the Oversea Pakistanis arriving from UK the potential carrier of the pandemic allegedly spreading the corona virus”.
“Being a person of highly responsible status looking after the provincial State health sector, Dr. Yasmeen Rashid should get her facts right putting her house in order instead of blaming others”, the GPKSC Chairman observed alleging that the provincial health minister has, in fact, failed to ensure implementation of the SOPs and safeguarding the general public of Punjab from Pandemic and corona virus risk factors.
Raja Sikander also stated that the Provincial Health Minister of Punjab should know or be briefed about the factual position that every single person arriving from the United Kingdom undergoes through a COVID test 72 hours prior to their departure to Pakistan and only after getting the negative test certification the passengers were allowed to travel to Pakistan and at the arrival at the Pakistani Airport these passengers have to undergo through another corona virus test.
He added as underlining “only after getting the negative test report the passengers are allowed to continue their journeys to their respective final destinations including Mirpur District of Azad Jammu Kashmir where they were registered at all the entry points of District Mirpur with their CNIC and complete home addresses making them officially bounded of going into 14 days quarantine at their given local home addresses.
The GPKSC Chairman further stated that under the ensuing procedure to discourage the spread of the pandemic in Mirpur and rest of AJK, the State Health Services department was provided with full details of given their details and these passengers are than visited at their given addresses after 7 day’s to check if they are in quarantine and if they are still ok in good health.
“I think the Provincial Health Minister should move the healthy idea of registering the passengers arriving into Punjab and then she should make sure that a member of health department should visit these passengers after seven days or so to see if these passengers arriving from UK, were in quarantine with complete good health without COVID-19 symptoms”, the GPKSC Chairman said,
Chairman Raja Sikander Khan also stated “Global Pak Kashmir Supreme Council is non- political, non-religious and non-profitable organization working for the betterment of Pakistani and Kashmiri Diaspora community and did not believe in point scoring politics.
“Global Pak Kashmir Supreme Council always praise the Government of Pakistan who so ever work for the betterment of people of Pakistan & Kashmir”, Sikander said. The organization (GPKSC) will use to raise voices against the government of any of the political party which fail to deliver for the betterment of people of Pakistan & Azad Jammu & Kashmir”, he concluded.